Just two days after winning her third Daytime Emmy, Michelle Stafford, who plays Phyllis on “The Young and the Restless,” took to Instagram to clear up some misconceptions.

Stafford addressed a narrative that had been circulating about her comments to Executive Producer and Head Writer Josh Griffith during her acceptance speech, where she thanked him for letting her cry in his office.

Stafford explained that she usually wouldn’t care to address such rumors, but felt it was important to share her story to help others experiencing grief.

She revealed that she recently lost a parent, which had been a devastating experience.

Despite the pain, life goes on—you go to work, take care of your kids, and try to move forward, even though the heart takes time to heal.

About ten days after her loss, Stafford had a scheduled meeting with Griffith to discuss her character’s storyline. During the meeting, as they talked about Phyllis’s relationship with her children, a surge of emotion hit her unexpectedly. Stafford recounted how grief can ambush you out of nowhere—whether talking to a coworker or seeing something that triggers a memory, and you find yourself falling apart despite your best efforts to keep it together.

In that moment, she broke down in Griffith’s office, overwhelmed with emotion. She felt embarrassed and apologized repeatedly. However, Griffith responded with genuine compassion, doing something kind and human, which Stafford chose not to detail but appreciated deeply.

Stafford emphasized that, despite being a professional environment, the set of “The Young and the Restless” is also a place where colleagues care about each other. She acknowledged that not everyone has the same supportive work environment and expressed her gratitude for her caring coworkers.